Industrial separators use screens to separate solids and/or fluids. For example, separators are used in the mining industry to separate solids from fluids, such as to extract ore and/or metal during mining processes. Separators are also used in the oil and gas industry during well drilling operations to separate drill cuttings and other solids from drilling fluid.
One type of separator is a vibratory screen apparatus for sifting material. One type of vibratory screen apparatus utilizes a hook strip screen formed of a mesh having openings sized to permit smaller particles (below a predetermined size) to fall through the screen into a basket, thereby separating the smaller particles from larger particles. Opposing ends of the hook strip screen have elements forming strip-shaped hooks attached to the mesh. The hooks hook around tension rails mounted on opposing sides of the vibratory screen apparatus. Tension bolts are then tightened to push the hook strips apart, thereby pulling the mesh screen taut across the vibratory screen apparatus.
However, the hook strip type of separator is not ideal. For example, several bolts on each side of the machine are tightened or loosened to install or remove each screen. In larger machines, over one-hundred (100) bolts have to be torqued for screen service, causing excessive down time and increasing the risk of injury. Moreover, as the bolts are loosened, the rails tend to fall on the screen, making installation or removal difficult. Hook strips also have sharp metal edges that can cut the screen. A hook strip screen can also have poor sealing between the screen and the basket, such as where a metal-on-metal seal permits leakage, whereby unscreened material can pass through gaps between the screen and the basket and mix with already screened material.